'Disappointed' Lennon fails in Doyle bid

CELTIC failed in a late bid to bring Kevin Doyle to Parkhead on loan.

The striker was an unused substitute for Wolves in last night's 2-1 defeat to Leicester but will remain in the midlands until the end of the eason.

"I found out just before kick-off we had received an offer from Celtic to take Kevin Doyle on loan," Wolves boss Dean Saunders admitted. "But the club rejected that offer.

"It was rejected three or four hours before kick-off because three or four hours doesn't give me much time to get a replacement."

It's highly unlikely that Celtic will be in the market for Doyle during the summer with the transfer fee and personal terms out of their budget.

And Bhoys boss Neil Lennon admitted he was disappointed to have failed with his late bid for the Wolves man this time around.

"He is a player we have admired for a long time, but Wolves were steadfast, like we've been, so we obviously respect that," said Lennon.

"They feel Kevin is a very important player there and it just wasn't to be."

Despite failing to add to his squad on deadline day Lennon will be pleased Gary Hooper is still at the club.

Rejected

After having four offers rejected there were claims late last night that Norwich had tabled a £9.2million bid for Hooper with a private plane on standby at Glasgow Airport.

"I think we made our stance pretty clear," said Lennon.

"I don't think a lot of people believed us but we want to keep this team together for the foreseeable future. Gary is a huge part of that and I'm very grateful to the board for standing by our decision on that.

"We look forward to a great second half to the season now."

Celtic's move for Doyle was stepped up following news of a possible long-term injury to Georgios Samaras.

The unpredictable Greek has been one of the stars of Celtic's Champions League campaign.

Samaras picked up a hamstring knock in the 4-1 win over Kilmarnock on Wednesday night with Lennon waiting on the results of a scan.